As opposition mounts to the Trudeau government’s proposed tax reform plan, local MP Gord Brown is bringing a key critic of the measures to Brockville.

Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre, the Opposition’s finance critic, will join Brown at a meeting on Thursday, September 14, to hear from constituents about the small business tax changes proposed by the Liberal government.

The meeting takes place at the 1000 Islands Mall Community Room from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

It’s a session that Pat Markovich, president of the Brockville and District Chamber of Commerce, is urging her members to attend.

“This is going to affect a vast majority of the businesses in this area,” said Markovich.

On July 18, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced his intention to eliminate certain tax measures that allow Canadians to avoid higher taxes.

The government’s plan would bring in new restrictions on splitting income among family members through a corporation, keeping investment income inside a corporation to take advantage of lower tax rates and converting dividend income into capital gains.

It’s sparked a furious backlash from small business organizations and such professionals as doctors who have long used corporations for tax planning strategies. Small business groups argue these tax advantages exist to offset the risks that entrepreneurs take and the lack of benefits they get compared with salaried workers.

“Since these proposals were announced I have been receiving feedback from all across the riding,” Brown, the Conservative MP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, said in a statement.

“Many small business owners including family doctors and other professionals that we rely on every day have contacted me to express concerns about their ability to maintain their offices and businesses under the proposed rules.”

Brown, who is in Winnipeg for the Tories’ caucus retreat, could not be reached for direct comment.

The MP’s statement notes the business owners who contacted him don’t have many of the tax benefits of other Canadians and these measures allow them to save for retirement, rainy days, and to have the capital to grow their businesses.

The MP also took aim at the policies of the provincial Liberal government, noting small businesses are being “crushed by substantial increases in operating costs due to higher electricity and service rates.

“And soon, they will also face wage hikes,” the statement adds.

The federal government has announced a 75-day consultation period on its proposals that ends October 2. Next week’s meeting is part of that consultation process.

“It’s a fairly significant reform and certainly the most sweeping of such in 50 years,” said Markovich, who heads the area’s biggest business group.

She shares the small business owners’ concerns and believes 75 days is not long enough to consult on the measures.

“Nobody’s going to support tax evasion or loopholes, but I think changes can punish legitimate businesses,” added Markovich.

Speaking to a radio station in Kelowna, B.C., where the Liberals are having their caucus retreat, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the proposed changes only affect those with incomes high enough to exhaust the other options for tax-assisted savings.

“If you’re making $150,000 a year or less, you can max out your RRSPs, you can use the tax-free savings account,” said Trudeau.

“The private corporation route only really benefits people making more than hundreds (of) thousands of dollars.”

Later in the day, pressed on that claim by reporters, Trudeau stood by it.

“As soon as you start talking about the small percentage of people who have or who can max out both their RRSPs and their tax-free savings account, you’re talking about the wealthiest Canadians,” he said.

Trudeau was twice asked if he might extend the consultation period, but he would only say that the government will consider making some tweaks in response to the feedback.

“Obviously the concerns we’ve heard from Canadians, what we’ve heard from caucus members, is an imperative to ensure that we are not affecting middle class families and middle class small businesses, and that’s exactly what we will stay focused on,” he said.